Trump signs order directing creation of a national voter list, a move sure to face legal challenges

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order creating a nationwide list of verified eligible voters, a move that is sure to draw legal challenges as the president continues to demand further restrictions on voting ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

The order calls on the Department of Homeland Security, working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, to make the list of eligible voters in each state. It also seeks to bar the U.S. Postal Service from sending absentee ballots to those not on each state’s approved list, although the president likely lacks the power to mandate what the Postal Service does.

Trump is also calling for ballots to have secure envelopes with unique barcodes for tracking, according to the executive order, which was first reported by the Daily Caller.

“I think it’s going to be really great,” Trump said.

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mail-voting-elections-47cc334b1fb7742244a9c4f176b355cd

[D. Spaulding]

1. Creating a new requirement for the USPS right now, when

they're in such bad shape, isn't a very good idea.

[Bayard]

2. He's so transparent

“I don’t know how it can be challenged. They’ll probably challenge it. You may find a rogue judge,” Trump added. “A lot of rogue judges. Very bad, bad people. A lot of bad judges.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Democracy Docket-Trump signs sweeping order attacking mail-in voting

This executive order will be struck down

Link to tweet

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-signs-sweeping-order-attacking-mail-in-voting/

Under the Constitution, states run elections and only Congress can set national standards.

“This is a massive and unconstitutional voter suppression effort aimed at giving Trump the power to create a list of who is allowed to vote by mail,” Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, said Tuesday. “We know where this will go — the targeting of Democrats for mass disenfranchisement. We will sue and we will win.”

Legal challenges to the new order are expected swiftly.

“It’s obvious the president didn’t learn anything from his first failed executive order,” David Becker, a leading election law expert, told Democracy Docket. “This is unconstitutional on its face. The Constitution clearly gives the president no power over elections.”

Becker said he expects courts to move quickly to block the order, as they did with earlier attempts.

“I expect that this will be blocked by multiple federal courts in a very short period of time and have no legal effect whatsoever,” he said.

He also pointed to contradictions between the administration’s recent legal arguments and the apparent scope of the new order, particularly around the creation of a national voter list.

“After the Department of Justice has been telling courts they’re not creating a national voter list, this appears to confirm exactly what courts were concerned about,” Becker said.

[spanone]

5. A traitor to our democracy.

[malaise]

4. It is illegal

Rec

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. Marc Elias predicts it will be blocked by multiple courts in short order

It is unenforceable, and unconstitutional.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

7. Republicans are trying to pass SAVE bills through a ton of states

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221137594

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8. Our democracy is truly under attack from this administration.